Newcomers

Can you remember being a 'newcomer' at something? Perhaps a first day at school, or at a new job, or even joining a church community or a sports team? It feels strange at first, but after a while, one slowly starts to ease into the newness. 

Coming from another angle, I want to ask us this question: 

Do you ever feel that you are not a 'newcomer' to the Christian faith? Do we get to a point in our spiritual lives where we feel that we are mature enough? It seems to me that I keep learning new things along the pathway and although I have been a Christ-follower decades, I still get the feeling that I am an infant. 

Listen to these words from the book of Job. See how he eloquently describes this feeling:

Job 8:8-19 - For we’re newcomers at this, with a lot to learn, and not too long to learn it. So why not let the ancients teach you, tell you what’s what, instruct you in what they knew from experience? Can mighty pine trees grow tall without soil? Can luscious tomatoes flourish without water? Blossoming flowers look great before they’re cut or picked, but without soil or water they wither more quickly than grass. That’s what happens to all who forget God— all their hopes come to nothing. (The Message)

Thought: Don't despise being a student of the Gospel. We are all learning along the way.

Living in Grace

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Surviving the Hurricane

As South Africans we don't come across Hurricanes in our weather patterns, but we are obviously aware that friends around the world have to take precautions against these devasting weather conditions. 

We may not face physical storms in our lives, but we will inevitably find ourselves in a spiritual or emotional Hurricane at some point in time. This is when we truly must 'batten down the hatches and draw close to God in prayer.' I love how Eugene Peterson renders Psalm 57 - it really resonates with me. 

"Be good to me, God—and now! I’ve run to you for dear life. I’m hiding out under your wings until the hurricane blows over. I call out to High God, the God who holds me together. He sends orders from heaven and saves me..." - Psalm 57:1-3

Living in Grace

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Christ recognizes you!

"That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was." - Luke 24:13-16 (The Message) 

Frederick Buechner writes an interesting response to this encounter. He says, “I believe that although the two disciples did not recognize Jesus on the road to Emmaus, Jesus recognized them, that He saw them as if they were the only two people in the world. And I believe that the reason why the resurrection is more than just an extraordinary event that took place some two thousand years ago and then was over and done with is that, even as I speak these words and you listen to them, He also sees each of us like that.”

What better news is there? We may not 'see' Christ in the midst of our chaotic lives, but he sees us.

May you have a blessed week. 

Living in Grace

D3LM3

A new life emerges

"Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins." - 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 (Message)

...a new life emerges!

This is the phrase that encapsulates the Resurrection for all of us. Thanks to the work of Christ, who emerges from the borrow tomb, each of us can experience this gift of new life. As we emerge from the darkness of sin, so we allow the Light to help us adjust our eyes to our new world-view. Following Jesus changes us - slowly, but steadily. The old life disappears, as we embrace the new.

May you know the love of God today.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Rule of thumb

“Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behaviour: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get." - Matthew 7:12 (The Message)

This was the verse for today and I was struck by how simple the 'rule' is, yet how hard we make it. Can you imagine how our world would be if more of us followed this behaviour?

Living in Grace

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Remembering God through the night

"On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings." - Psalm 63:6-7

The first impression I get from these verses is of David struggling to sleep. As he lies awake at night - perhaps fearing for his life or just thinking about his troubles, so he turns to God. He remembers God and that God has been with him in the past. We also know that the 'night' was considered to a symbol of evil and the demonic world, so David allows his thoughts to turn to God in these dark times, rather than dwell on the evil around him.

The picture of a tiny bird singing in the shelter of her mother's wings comes to my mind as I read through the second part of the passage. The chick is vulnerable and afraid, yet it is able to sing because it has the reassurance of its mother close by. 

How does this make you feel at the moment? Can you relate in anyway?

Eugene Peterson paraphrases these verses in this way:

If I’m sleepless at midnight,
    I spend the hours in grateful reflection.
Because you’ve always stood up for me,
    I’m free to run and play.

Living in Grace

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New tasks

The last year has increased our capacity to deal with unwanted change and to equip ourselves with the skills need for new tasks. In the ministry I have had to learn to adapt and have often felt totally out of my depth and comfort zone. The reading from Acts 6 takes us back to a time when the church was expanding and they disciples needed to make some decisions and changes. They decided the following:

"Meanwhile, we’ll stick to our assigned tasks of prayer and speaking God’s Word.” (The Message)

While, they decided to focus on what they were equipped to do, they let others get on with the other tasks, in order to allow the church to flourish. This is always a challenge for us in the church. I have learnt to rely on the amazing gifts of God's people and to work together as a team - we all need each other in order to move the Kingdom forward.

One of the things I have begun to do is put a few of my messages, bible studies and podcasts onto a new hosting app called Anchor. If you haven't visited it before, please take a look when you have time. Thanks. 

https://anchor.fm/delme-living-in-grace

Living in Grace

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Beginning again

"At that same time, I begged God: “God, my Master, you let me in on the beginnings, you let me see your greatness, you let me see your might—what god in Heaven or Earth can do anything like what you’ve done! Please, let me in also on the endings, let me cross the river and see the good land over the Jordan, the lush hills, the Lebanon mountains.” - Deuteronomy 3:23-25

As we come to the end of another month, I find the transition from the 28th February to the 1st March very pertinent. There is something symbolic in the re-setting of the days of the month back down to 1. 

In a simple way it reminds me that God allows me the chance to reset, to start over again. Lent is one of those seasons where we set time aside to re-evaluate our spiritual lives and what we need to relinquish to the Lord.

As the new month begins I pray that the Lord may guide you into a new season of hope, joy and peace.

"Holiness does not consist in not making mistakes or never sinning. Holiness grows with capacity for conversion, repentance, willingness to begin again, and above all with the capacity for reconciliation and forgiveness." - Pope Benedict XVI

Living in Grace

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Step out of the Traffic

“Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God,
    above politics, above everything.” - Psalm 46:10 (Message)

This is such a refreshing look at the familiar words of this Psalm. We may remember the verse like this:“Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

However, as I read the words 'Step out of the traffic!' I think of intentionally getting away from the hustle of peak hour traffic. Once the noise dies down, I can take a careful look at my surroundings and in a spiritual sense, 'take a loving look' at God. It is reassuring to note that God is above all things - including politics!

Perhaps today is the day we need to step out of the rush-hour traffic and take a loving look at Jesus.

Living in Grace
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No Shortcuts

"Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formula's for a successful life that can be practised in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way of life - to God - is vigorous and requires total attention." - Matthew 7: 13-14 (MSG)

Friends, we are so caught up in trying to do things quickly and often looking for a shortcut to success, but FAITH doesn't work like that. As Eugene Peterson puts it "there are no shortcuts to God" and if we want to follow Christ, then we need to recognise that this will take up our full attention, not just a part of our lives. After all, we use the phrase, "I give my LIFE to the Lord" - we don't say, "I will give one hour to Jesus!"

If you take shortcuts, you get cut short. - Gary Busey

What do you think?

Living in Grace
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The best thing you can do right now...

"So here’s what I think: 
The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. 
You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. 
Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. 
The heart regulates the hands. 
This isn’t so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. 
No, you’re shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. 
In the end you come out even. As it is written, Nothing left over to the one with the most, 
Nothing lacking to the one with the least." - 2 Corinthians 8:10-15

May these words from The Message encourage you today.

Have a blessed week.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Love

"My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him" - 1 John 4:7-8 (Message)

May God bless you as you reflect on this powerful portion of the Bible.

Living in Grace
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Why make it so hard, Lord?

Forgiveness is such a complex topic and I feel that even trying to write a short post on this topic may seem like I am "dumbing" it down a bit. This is not my aim, but I do want to venture a few thoughts on this 'hard' topic.

Most people are overjoyed to receive the mercy and forgiveness of God. To hear the words, "Your sins are forgiven" is like hearing, "you have won the Lotto" - except it could be even better! In fact, many modern Christians come to expect that it's God "job" to forgive our sins and to wipe clean the slate of our messed-up lives ... again and again!

However, what we fail to grasp is that God asks us to live as forgiven people, treating others with the same mercy and grace that God has revealed to us. In other words, God expects that "Forgiven People, will Forgive!"

Now, hang on a minute, that is a tough call. God seems a little hasty in His expectations doesn't He? Does God really believe I should be forgiving those who have wronged me and ill-treated me? The answer is 'Yes' - even as hard as that may be. Forgiveness can release us from the bondage that we may be experiencing. When I choose to forgive those who have wronged me, then I release the power they have over my life. I give back control to God and take it away from the person that hurt me.

Worth thinking about, perhaps?!

Message (Eugene Peterson) - "You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part."

Living in Grace

D3LM3